AUDIO ANALOGUE MAESTRO ANNIVERSARY

Pre owned. In excellent condition. No visible signs of wear. Supplied with remote control, manual, and original packaging.

The Maestro Anniversary is a reference integrated amplifier developed by Airtech in its laboratories, representing a direct evolution of the experience gained with the Puccini Anniversary model, from which it inherits the overall circuit philosophy while introducing a more complex and refined architecture.

The amplification topology is based on a fully balanced signal path from input to the final stage, where the signal is converted back to unbalanced for connection to the loudspeakers. This design choice effectively doubles the amplification and attenuation stages, contributing to extremely precise signal handling.

The entire system operates without global feedback, a principle that also extends to the preamplification stages, with the aim of preserving maximum signal purity and ensuring a natural, unprocessed dynamic behavior free from overall corrective loops.

Output power reaches 150 watts into 8 ohms and doubles as impedance decreases, providing excellent driving capability and high stability even with demanding loudspeakers. This is achieved through output stages built with four pairs of transistors per channel and a core configuration based on an inverted cascode design, effectively behaving as a single gain stage followed by a buffer.

Operating point stability is maintained by a DC servo circuit that only intervenes at frequencies below a few tenths of a hertz, well outside the audible range and therefore without any direct influence on musical reproduction.

Internal construction is characterized by the use of extremely high-grade selected components, including military-spec resistors, audiophile-grade polypropylene capacitors custom-made to Airtech specifications, internal wiring in 7N OCC copper, and pure copper gold-plated output connectors, all contributing to a design focused on maximum sonic quality.

The overall architecture is conceived as three independent and physically separated sections mounted on dedicated boards, effectively functioning as a fully modular system consisting of separate power supply, preamplifier, and power amplifier stages.

The power supply section is fully dual mono, with a dedicated approximately 600 VA transformer per channel, a rectification stage using 50 A ultrafast discrete diodes, and a total filtering capacitance of 67,200 µF, divided into 16,800 µF per rail. Inrush current is limited at power-on by thermally controlled resistors that are bypassed once the system stabilizes.

The amplification section is also fully dual mono, including ground and power paths, with digitally controlled volume implemented via opto-isolated chips and oversized copper traces designed to handle high currents. The layout is carefully optimized to maintain signal symmetry and maximize overall sonic performance.

The preamplifier section is likewise dual mono and integrates input switching relays placed immediately after the inputs, followed by discrete buffer stages that isolate the source from the amplifier. Maximum input voltage is approximately 6 Vrms. These buffers, balanced on both input and output, drive in Class A a volume control network based on resistor ladder chips without operational amplifiers, completely eliminating global feedback. After volume control, the signal is further amplified by approximately 12 dB in the main preamplifier stage.

Overall, the Maestro Anniversary stands as an extremely advanced integrated amplifier, featuring an internal modular structure comparable to three separate devices and a design philosophy focused on maximum signal purity, high power delivery, and an exceptionally refined level of musical performance rarely found in this category.

Technical specifications:

• Channels: 2
• RCA inputs: 3
• XLR inputs: 2
• Input impedance: 47 kΩ
• Maximum input signal: 6 Vrms
• Power output into 8 Ω: 150 W @ 1% THD+N
• Power output into 4 Ω: 300 W @ 1% THD+N
• Power output into 2 Ω: 500 W @ 1% THD+N
• Sensitivity: 720 mVrms (rated power into 8 Ω)
• Frequency response: 0 dB, -3 dB bandwidth up to 90 kHz
• Output impedance: 0.2 Ω (rated power into 2 Ω at 1 kHz)
• Noise level: 20 µV (0 Hz – 80 kHz); 10 µV (A-weighted)
• Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR): ≥ 100 dB
• Standby power consumption: 0.5 W (230 VAC)
• Dimensions (H × W × D): 168 × 450 × 550 mm
• Weight: 31 kg